CHS inducts three into Hall of Fame

Sunday

Dec 29, 2013 at 8:00 AM

By Gary Baker@TDRsports

COLDWATER — The Coldwater High School (CHS) Hall of Fame gained three new members on Friday night.The induction ceremony was sandwiched between the CHS varsity boys and girls Holiday Hoops Tournament games, as those in attendance honored those inducted into the hall of fame.The first inductee on the night was Aaron Tagert, a 2001 CHS graduate. Tagert earned nine varsity letters competing in three sports at CHS, two in football, three in basketball, and four in track. Aaron was a starting tackle for two seasons, and three-year starting forward in basketball; and was on two conference champion teams; and was on the famous 1999 team that won districts, regionals and made it to the Class B quarterfinal.Tagert has been long remembered for his performances in track and field, where he was all-conference in both the shot an discus, and was a regional champion in both events and won the 2000 Division 2 state title in the shot with a toss of 55'4.25". Aaron still holds the school record in the shot put (56’ 9") and in the discus (158’ 11").After graduation, Aaron attended Olivet Nazarene University in Illinois, where he continued his track career and was a three-time national qualifier in the shot put. He graduated in 2005 with a BA Degree, in youth ministry and lives in Washington, D.C. with his family where he is an elementary history teacher and coach.The second inductee on the night was coach Tom Sweitzer, who was a coach and teacher at CHS for 36 years.Sweitzer coached wrestling and football, but was always best known for his time as the CHS wrestling coach. Sweitzer — the third wrestling coach in school history — finished his tenure with a 490-400 record, five conference titles, eight district titles; a number or regional finalists; 32 state placers and four individual state champions. Sweitzer was named regional coach of the year back in 2003.He was the defensive mind behind Coldwater football for many seasons, a defense that was known for a hard-hitting unit and being a turnover creating machine. Sweitzer coached for three years at the freshman level, 32 years of football (27 as an assistant and five as head coach); and a number of middle school positions in track.Sweitzer has always been remembered for making Coldwater bigger and better, as he helped teach and nurture young men and women at CHS. He always wore his faith on his sleeve, keeping God first, with family, team and sport coming right after.The third inductee was the Coldwater Sunrise Township Rotary as an honorary member. Past presidents Mike Beckwith, Lloyd Walrack and Bill Renner were on hand to accept the award. The service club made up of community members — has undertaken many projects. Included in the number of projects they have helped fund are: the Lakeland Elementary Pavilion project, the Legg Middle School American flag replacement endeavor; and the Rachel’s challenge pledge are activities for Coldwater Community Schools.There are two major projects that the morning rotary club initiated that have had a major impact on the community. The group was instrumental in the creation of the Creal Soccer Complex located on the north side of town. Even though it is not connected to the school directly, it has provided a feeder system for the CHS soccer program; which eventually came to fruition.The second project the group became involved in was the financial backing for the baseball and softball stadium seating. With a gift of $300,000, it allowed for the construction of new stadium seating, press boxes, and restrooms. As the construction phase is now completed, the CHS facilities are among the finest around.The work that the Coldwater Township Sunrise Rotary Club has put into these facilities have been helped by the many fundraisers, raffles, and the professional working relationships with other service clubs are all attributes that have made these projects successful.

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